How MANY Stars?

Three things happened to me this week that reminded me the world can be cruel. 

1.) I got observed and evaluated at my day job.  Actually, my boss told me I did "great." But the whole ordeal just reminded me that I'm being watched.  That the quality of my performance carries much weight at work, and the higher-ups know it.

2.) I viewed a fabulous movie - "Jeff, Who Lives at Home" - while curled up on the couch with the stomach flu.  Impressed as hell, I read some of the many lukewarm reviews on the Internet.  WHAT?  If a stellar movie like "Jeff" can't fare well in the public eye, where does that leave novice free-lancing story weavers like me?

3) My story, Lifeline, was printed by Every Day Fiction.  I've been nervous since the story was accepted, because at Every Day Fiction, you're at the mercy of the readers, who rate the story on a scale of 1-5 stars.  And the story is quite experimental (all dialogue).  I'm averaging about a "3" right now.  

My mom said, "That's pretty good, 3 out of 5 stars."  Sigh.  Thanks, Mom.  But stars are pretty, and I wanted at least 4 of them.